Vodacom added 1,6m active customers in the fourth quarter of 2016, taking its total to 65,2m, the JSE-listed telecommunications group said on Wednesday.

In its latest quarterly filing, for the three months ended 31 December 2016, Vodacom reported revenue up 1,2% to R21,2bn. It would have been higher if it hadn’t been for a stronger rand during the period.

Data, rather than voice, once again was the growth area, with group data revenue rising by 18,4% to R6,5bn. That now represents 37,5% of total service revenue. Data traffic growth in South Africa was 44,8%, and 66,7% in the group’s international operations.

Service revenue in South Africa grew by 5,5% to R13,4bn, driven by strong data revenue growth of 22%. International service revenue declined by 8,2% to R4,2bn because of the stronger rand and customer registration processes.

In South Africa, strong growth in data demand outstripped declining voice revenues, said Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub.

“Challenging conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo were offset by a better performance in Tanzania and sustained growth in Mozambique resulting in a 3,4% increase in normalised international service revenue,” he said.

During the quarter, Vodacom invested R2,7bn in network infrastructure. Most of that (R2,1bn) was invested in South Africa, mainly on improving 3G and 4G coverage. 3G population coverage is now 99%, while 4G coverage is 70%, Vodacom said.